Our 2004 Subaru Forester had come to the end of its useful life.
With just under 300,000km on the clock and a leaking head gasket and radiator, it was time to bite the bullet and buy a new car.
We had had little problem over the 17 years probably due to regular servicing and the quality of Subaru build.
The clutch (yes, it was a manual) and water pump had been replaced at 200k when a new timing belt was due plus we had needed a new aircon compressor around two years ago.
Apart from 2 sets of new tyres that was about that. The spare tyre was still original equipment. We had never had a flat.
So what to buy next?
The choices, for us, were Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4 or another Forester.
We stuck with the Subaru due to its roominess, ease of getting in and out, good all round vision and our past experience.
We contacted a local dealer. With the new car shortages (Covid!) in Australia there were no deals.
That’s the price. Take it or leave it!
Delivery 3 to 4 months.
Surprisingly they offered us a trade-in, albeit minimal, on our old car. It was, for its age, in very good condition.
That saved us trying to get ‘rid’ of it privately.
So after a 3 month wait, we took delivery.
After 3 weeks what do we think?
Automotive engineering has come a long way in 17 years.
There are so many innovative bells and whistles on the new one it was hard initially to come to grips with it all. But we have set up what we think is essential and will work on others as they come up.
The manual is 600 pages long plus there are additional manuals for the ‘eyesight’ and the infotainment systems. Brain explosion stuff.
The car is very comfortable, has easy access, is powerful enough and is quiet and ‘sits’ on the road and corners (AWD) well.
The auto stop/start was a bit disconcerting initially but we are used to that now.
Also nice to have an automatic. The CVT transmission is seamless.
So we are very happy.
Highly recommended.
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